Red Rock Ranch HOA Board Meeting Feb. 8, 2021
In attendance:
Board:
Elizabeth Lonnquist, Julia Pheteplace, Shannon Kittelson, Skip Chang, Kevin Guy, Bill Griffith,
Paul Tillotson, Mark Fears
Guests:
Craig Pryor, Maria Kowalski, Jason Schneider, Denise Geller
Meeting started at 7:04pm.
Denise Geller told the board about replacing the deck on their house that was damaged. It is a
direct replacement of what they had before. Elizabeth told her it was $25 for the ACC request.
Denise said she had sent in the money and actually paid $50. Denise said the rest was a
donation to the HOA. Shannon made a motion to accept the ACC request. Julie seconded.
Board accepted and approved the request.
Craig Pryor expressed concern about the extension date of the Covenants. He thought that
the Covenants might have expired in 2020. He said he had looked at the information that
Elizabeth had sent to him that showed the Covenants had been extended to 2030. He wasn’t
sure that he understood how the extension had been approved. Bill told the group that there
had been legal advice at the time on how to extend the covenants. The Board discussed the
status of the Covenants with Craig. Mr. Pryor was informed that the Board would get further
legal advice and clarification and get back with him within two weeks.
Minutes of the last meeting had been approved electronically.
Bill gave the Treasure’s report. He informed the Board that financial activity had started picking
up for the Board’s finances. There were five contributions and a ACC request for a fence that
was approved. $425.00 had come in to the HOA. Overall, the HOA had a balance of
$25,842.86. At the end of the month, three more ACC requests had come in, four additional
contributions, totaling about $400.00. There was an expense for the Red Rock Acres letter
about the proposed expansion at HWY 105, $10 for web site support, $55 for rejoining
NEPCO, renewal of insurance for $352.00. So far, there has been approximately $400 of
income at the end of the month and $468.00 in expenditures. For 2021 there have been
$725.00 of contributions and there has been 3.3% participation. There has been $100.00 in
ACC fees collected. There is $1,133.50 carried over from last year for FireWise.
The Treasurer’s report was accepted with a motion from Julie and seconded by Skip. The
board all voted in favor.
The Board then moved to discussing the preliminary budget. Kevin displayed the 2021 budget
and Bill gave a description of what the printout was showing. Bill said that there was
historically about 60% participation in the voluntary contributions and there would probably be
a drop off in ACC requests. Bill also illustrated the probable expenses that HOA should
anticipate. Bill is forecasting $10,725.00 in income with a net of $2,5378. He anticipates
$8,187.00 in expenses. Paying for work already done for mowing the park was discussed.
Nivens Park upgrades were discussed. Expenditures for the possible picnic and increased
costs for the PO Box were highlighted. Website costs were anticipated to stay similar to what
has been paid in the past.
Kevin asked about reimbursement for member costs for umbrella policies and Bill said that was
part of the budgeted $2,000.00 for insurance, now updated to $2,700.00 to cover umbrella
insurance for board members.. Elizabeth thinks that there will be some additional costs for
FireWise chipping and crews.
Kevin also asked about what a legal counsel charges. $200 an hour is the usual fee. If we
need to mail out ballots, it might end up being about $1000 for Covenant modification. Bill
was thanked for a job well done.
Bill said he would make changes for approval electronically.
Paul and Kevin reported the website was running well. Kevin discussed making the URL
accessible for future use via registration.
Julie didn’t have any new information about FireWise at this time. Elizabeth said there will
State funds through NEPCO that could be used for FireWise.
Elizabeth and Mark reported on attending the Forest View Acres Water District meeting.
Elizabeth has been talking with El Paso County about the proposed development and our
concerns about increased traffic, residents ability to evacuate in case of fire, and impact on
quality of life. There is concern about how dense the proposed development might end up
being.
The article Mark wrote about the Water District was discussed as a way to inform members
about the Water District’s thinking.
Elizabeth reminded the Board about articles for the Newsletter.
Maria wanted her request to say she did not need an exemption because she has domestic
chickens. Kevin noted that the board would work with Maria to change the covenants. The
board reiterated its position that the current Covenants prohibit poultry within the HOA areas.
Elizabeth wanted to make sure Maria understood that not removing her chickens would be
considered a breach of contract. Craig suggested that the Covenants might not be in effect
and with that chickens might be allowable. Elizabeth explained the process for changing the
Covenants to allow chickens but until that time, the Board position is that chickens are not
allowed at this time. The Board stated that it would again get legal counsel on the validity of
the Covenants.
Member meeting in April was discussed and whether it could be done as a Zoom meeting.
Kevin said that could be done.
The cleanup day was discussed and whether it should still be scheduled. June 5th and 6th
was decided upon as dates for the cleanup.
Jason Schneider asked about the legal counsel that David Weber provided in the past. He
wanted to know how home owners could find past information about HOA activities. Some of
that information is still being transferred from an old website system to the new website. Jason
was told that old meeting minutes are available on the current website. Some archived
meetings need to be requested through Elizabeth.
Jason also suggested that guests should be scheduled at the first of the Board meetings. It
was agreed that is good practice.
Member picnic was discussed and August 28 was decided upon as the date. 12:00pm at
Nivens Park.
Skip asked about how long an ACC request had to be completed once it was approved. The
owner has one year to complete the work.
Elizabeth asked whether there would be other Board members wanted to attend a meeting
with legal counsel.
Kevin suggested that time should be allocated specifically for each individual to talk.
Craig asked about how the Covenants could be rewritten. Elizabeth described the process
and timeline that would be required for updating and changing the Covenants. She stressed
that homeowner input would be necessary and desired. She told of the work she is doing
with CONO to understand how to implement changes to the Covenants in the future. Kevin
asked about whether line item changes could be possible. It was reiterated that Covenant
change requires 51% of homeowners to approve a change.
Skip motioned to adjourn, Julie seconded, and the Board voted in favor.
